Railroad cross-tie comminutor



Oct. 27, 1970 HARMON, JR 3,536,269

RAILROAD CROSS-TIE COMMINUTOR Filed Dec. 10, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet i Oct.27, 1970 o. T. HARMON, JR 6,

RAILROAD CROSS-TIE COMMINU'IOR Filed Dec. 10, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 5yZJ AQM, 686, dJ/Jw ATTOe/VEYS' United States Patent "ice 3,536,269RAILROAD CROSS-TIE COMMINUTOR Oscar T. Harmon, Jr., Davidson, N.C.,assignor to Southern Railway Company, Washington, D.C., a corporation ofVirginia Filed Dec. 10, 1968, Ser. No. 782,612 Int. Cl. B02c 23/02 US.Cl. 241-301 12 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A machine fordestroying discarded railroad crossties in which a rotary comminutor,having an upwardly directed feed opening and an infeed chute leadingthereto, is carried by a self-propelled car for movement along arailroad track to various locations where the ties are to be picked up.The car also carries a tie pick-up means in the form of a boom having acontrollable grapple suspended therefrom, with the grapple rotatableabout a generally vertical axis so that the tie picked up and suspendedtherefrom may be rotated and positioned to bring their flat sides intoposition for flush engagement with an infeed conveyor on which they aredeposited for delivery into the infeed chute. The ties are delivered inan endwise direction upwardly and diagonally through a feed opening inone side of the chute and across the vertical infeed passage thereof,and then, by action of the conveyor, are tilted about a horizontalfulcrum to a vertical position for movement downwardly through thevertical infeed passage into the comminutor. After being reduced tosmall chips in the comminutor, the ties are discharged through anopening in the comminutor bottom into a pneumatic conveyor leading tothe intake of a blower which then discharges them through a suitablespout.

This invention relates to a comminuting machine and more particularly toimprovements in the infeed mechanism of such a machine.

In various types of wood comminutors or chippers, a length of wood to becomminuted is fed through a guide chute into a rotary cutter head orcomminutor in a direction generally radially to the rotational axis ofthe cutter head, to be thereby formed into small chips of wood fordisposal or for use in various ways. In many such machines the lengthsof wood to be comminuted are delivered manually into the guide chute ofthe comminuting machine.

It is a particular object of the present invention to adapt such acomminnting machine for use in the C0111- minuting of discarded railroadties. It will be readily apparent that because of the large size andweight of the railroad ties, it is not feasible to manually raise andmanipulate them for feeding into the comminutor. With this in mind, theinvention contemplates the provision, in combination with thecomminuting machine, of an infeed conveyor and conveyor chute whereinthe arrangement is such that after being placed upon the conveyor bysuitable grapple or other mechanical means, the tie is conveyed upwardlyat a vertical inclination or slope into the similarly sloping infeedpassage of a guide chute. The guide chute is also formed with a verticalpassage communicating downwardly with the casing the rotary comminutorand intersecting said sloping infeed passage. Special provision is madefor feeding the ties on the conveyor diagonally up into the inclinedinfeed passage and then utilizing the conveyor to tilt them about afulcrum within the chute so as to switch them into the vertical infeedpassage to thereafter move by gravity downwardly through said passageand into operative engagement with the comminutor head.

Patented Oct. 27, 1970 Only the preferred embodiment of the invention isspecifically illustrated and described in this application, though otherand diiferent embodiments will be made obvious thereby to persons ofordinary skill in the art.

In the accompanying drawings, FIG. 1 is a side elevation of acomminuting machine and its associated infeed mechanism, same beingsupported on a railway flat car for movement along the rails to pick upand comminute discarded ties.

FIG. 2 is a section along the line 22 of FIG. 1; and,

FIG. 3 is an enlarged detail section along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

Referring first, generally, to the construction shown in FIG. 1, theinvention therein is shown as mounted on a self-propelled railwayvehicle 10 which is supported on flanged wheels 12 and 14 for movementalong the rails R and, preferably, is propelled through power furnishedfrom an internal combustion engine 16 and transmitted to the drivewheels 12 in any suitable manner and under any conventional controls.The mechanism, preferably, is controlled by an operator whose seat 17 islocated within the cab 18, all to the end that the vehicle may movealong the railroad track and be brought to a stop at any desiredlocation, so that suitable tie pick-up means P supported on the vehiclemay be manipulated to pickup the discarded ties and deliver them insuccession onto the infeed conveyor 20 for delivery in an upwardlyinclined path into the generally vertical comminutor guide chute 22 fordelivery downwardly by gravity through said chute and into the casing 24of a comminutor C to be operated upon by the comminutor head 26 therein.The comminutor head 26 (shown in FIG. 2) is rotatably driven from theengine 16 through the engine output shaft 28 which is connected by theflexible coupling 30 to the driven shaft 32 which rotatably supports thecutter head. As the ties are disintegrated by the comminutor C, theresulting wood chips fall donwardly through an opening 33, in the bottomof the comminutor casing 24 and into the pneumatic conveyor conduit 34shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 through which they are drawn to a suction intakeopening in the casing of a suitable centrifugal blower B to bedischarged through a suitable swivel spout 36 either into the bushesalongside the railroad track or into a suitable vehicle. The blower Bpreferably is driven by its own internal combustion engine 38, theoutput shaft 40 of which, in turn, is connected through the flexiblecoupling 42 to the driven shaft 44 of the rotary blower element (notshown) housed within the blower casing 45.

The tie lifting and handling means P illustrated here, is of aconventional type such as is sometimes termed a backhoe, including amain boom 46 which is pivoted at 48 to a swingable supporting base 50and moved about said pivot 48 by a hydraulically actuated piston andcylinder unit in conventional manner. Pivotally connected at 54 to themain boom 46 is the auxiliary boom or extension 56 which is moved aboutits pivot to various desired positions by means of the hydraulicallyactuated piston and cylinder unit 58, all as shown in FIG. 1. At thefree end of the auxiliary boom is carried the tie pincers or grapple G.

The construction of a tie grapple G is best illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3considered together.

It will be apparent from these figures that the pincer jaws 60, whichare preferably provided with protruding teeth 62 for better gripping theties, are carried at the free ends of the rigid arms 64 which in turnare pivotally supported at 66 on brackets 68 of a cross-head 70. Thearms 64 are actuated by suitable hydraulic means, not illustrated, formovement toward and away from each other to thus operatively engage anddisengage the ties.

The cross-head 70 is in the form of a circular plate 3 having anoverhanging annular lip 72 supported in spaced relation therefrom tothus establish a rotatable connection between the plate and a supportingdisk 74 having a centrally located bracket 76 projecting upwardlytherefrom and by which said disk is pivotally suspended at 78 from thelower end of a universal link 80 having its upper end pivoted at 82 to asuspension bracket 84 fixed to the free end of the auxiliary boom.

In order to permit angular movement of the pincer arms 60 about avertical axis to the extent necessary to present a flat side of the tietoward the operative run of the conveyor 20, there is provided ahydraulic motor 86, the base 88 of which is bolted or otherwise afiixedto the supporting disk 74 concentrically to the disk. The hydraulicmotor is of a rotary or angularly moving type, having its rotary outputshaft 90 disposed through the hub of the supporting disk 70 and keyed tothe hub at 92, so that rotation of the shaft will rotate the plate aswell as the tie grapple G supported therefrom to any of various desiredangular positions. Control of the rotary hydraulic motor 86 is achievedby conventional means constituting no part of the present invention.

The feed chute 22 through which the ties are fed vertically, downwardlyinto operative engagement with the comminutor head 26 defines a verticalfeed passage 94 as shown in FIG. 2 which communicates downwardly withthe feed opening 96 in the upper end of the comminutor casing 24. Inaddition, the chute is formed to define a vertically inclined infeedpassage 98 which medially intersects said vertical passage 94 and whichdefines an infeed opening through the side of the chute in alignmentwith the upper run of the infeed conveyor 20 for reception therein ofthe ties.

At the juncture of the said vertical and vertically inclined infeedpassages, on the side of the vertical passage remote from the infeedconveyor 20, the chute 22 is formed with a vertically inclined bottomsection 100 in alignment with the upper run of the conveyor 20 forengaging and supporting the upper end portion of a tie projectedupwardly and across the vertical passage 94 by the infeed conveyor, allas shown in FIG. 2.

The lower end or extremity of the sloping chute bottom portion functionsas means defining a fulcrum 102 about which the tie may be pivoted asits lower end leaves the infeed conveyor to swing the tie from itsinclined position to a substantially vertical position for movementdownwardly by gravity through the vertical chute passage 94 and intooperative engagement with the rotary comminutor head 26.

In the present embodiment, the upper end of the chute 22 is open so thatthe tie may be projected upwardly therethrough and freely swung from aninclined to a generally vertical position. Further, it is desirable toprovide a downwardly sloping hood 104 over the infeed opening 95substantially parallel to but spaced from the plane of the upper run oroperative run 106 of the infeed conveyor 20 whereby to co-act with thesloping chute bottom section 100 in guiding the ties in their verticallyinclined upward movement and in confining them to such movement untilsuch time as the lower end of each tie is discharged from the infeedconveyor 20.

The infeed conveyor herein shown 20, and described is of the endlessflexible type comprising a sprocket chain guided for movement through anendless circuit around the sprocket Wheels 108 and 110 shown in FIG. 2.The sprocket wheels are supported at opposite ends of a rigid frame 112which, in turn, is fixedly supported with respect to the infeed chute 22and the rotary comminutor C, as by the rigid supports 114 and 116connecting the midportion and the upper end portion of said frame to aframe member suitably anchored to the rotary comminutor housing 24 andby the diagonal brace or strut 120 interconnecting the lower end of theinfeed conveyor frame to the main frame 10 of the vehicle.

Carried by the conveyor frame 112 on opposite sides of the operativeconveyor run 106, and projecting thereabove, are relatively parallelside walls 120 for retaining the respective ties properly positioned onthe upper run of the conveyor and in alignment with the conveyormovement. Preferably, these walls 120 are interrupted at a suitablelocation 122 to permit a close approach of the tie grapple G to theconveyor 20 at the time of placing ties thereon so as to avoidinterference between the side walls and the grapple. The infeed conveyor20 is driven by a fluid motor 124 (FIG. 1), supported at the lower endof its frame 112 and operatively connected to the lower or drivesprocket 110 in a manner to cause the upper or operative run 106 of theconveyor to move upwardly in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 2 andthence over and around the upper sprocket 108 at the discharge end ofthe conveyor before commencing its return run. Obviously, the operativeconveyor run 106 moves toward and in alignment with the infeed opening95 through the adjacent lateral side of the chute 22 to project the tiesinto and through said opening, and in passing around the upper sprocket108, the operative run 106 moves in an arcuate path having a substantiallateral component of movement toward the opening. For thrustingengagement with the lower end of a tie T carried on the operative run ofthe conveyor so as to project said tie through the infeed opening 95into the chute 22, the conveyor chain is provided with a conveyor flight126 rigidly affixed to one of its links and projecting outwardlytherefrom substantailly at right angles to the operative run of theconveyor and to the link. In order to enable the conveyor flight 106better to withstand the very substantial thrust exerted upon it by thecomparatively heavy tie T, there are provided on adjoining linksabutment members in the form of L-shaped brackets 127 and 128, one ofwhich, 127, abuts against the rear face of the conveyor flight 126, andthe other of which, 128, abuts against the rear face of the first suchabutment. It will be apparent that these abutments and the conveyorflight will all relatively separate during their movement around thesprockets so as not to interfere with such movement in any way.

It will be apparent that the conveyor flight 126 might be of sufficientlength, or in other words, might project outwardly from the conveyor adistance substantially in excess of the thickness of the ties so as toengage first against the end of each tie during the majority of itsoperative movement on the conveyor and then at the time of its dischargefrom the conveyor to thrust against the adjoining side-wall portion ofthe tie whereby to kick the lower end of the tie through the infeedopening 95 into the vertical chute passage 94, at the same time swingingthe tie T medially about the fulcrum 102 to switch it into the verticalfeed passage 94 for movement by gravity into the comminutor C.

However, such proportion and functioning of the conveyor flight wouldpermit the tie to exert an undesirable mechanical advantage or stressthrough the flight 126 on the conveyor chain 106 itself. Therefore, inthe preferred embodiment of FIG. 2, the flight 126 projects outwardlyfrom the chain by a distance which is appreciably less than thethickness of the tie T. Thus, at the time of discharge of the tie, whenthe flight moves around the upper conveyor sprocket 108, prior tocommencing its return run, it will scrape across the end of the tiewithout ever engaging the adjoining side wall thereof and, in so doing,may not in all instances pivot the tie about the fulcrum 102sufficiently to move it from above the sprocket 108 and into thevertical conveyor infeed passage 94. Therefore, in the preferredembodiment there is provided a further or auxiliary conveyor flight 130spaced in trailing relation behind the operative conveyor flight 126 sothat after the end of the tie has been disengaged by the leadingconveyor flight, if its lower end still rests on the discharge end ofthe conveyor, where it passes around the sprocket 108, such trailingflight or tie kicker plate 130 will, in passing around the sprocket 108,thrust against the side wall of the tie adjacent its end to firmly andpositively pivot the tie about the fulcrum 102 and into a generallyvertical position within the vertical infeed passage 94 It will be notedthat in the preferred embodiment but a single or leading conveyor flight126 and but -a single trailing flight or tie-kicker plate 130 are shown,though more may be employed if sufficient space is left between them forthe ties T. In other words, the length of the conveyor must be such thatits operative run 106 is somewhat longer than the ties to be placedthereon, it being contemplated htat the tie will be operativelypositioned on the conveyor at a time when the flights are disposed onthe return run thereof or, if on the operativerun, are at the dischargeend thereof so as to leave ample space for positioning of a tie on theconveyor.

For maintaining a tie T operatively positioned on the conveyor inreadiness to be picked up by the leading conveyor flight 126, there isprovided a tie support in the form of a rigid platform 132 which isconnected at 134 to the conveyor frame in position for abuttingengagement with the lower end of a tie T which is placed on theoperative run 106 of the conveyor. The tie support or platform 132preferably has its outer end supported by chains 136 which extenddiagonally downwardly from the frame -112 to resist downward swingingforces exerted by the ties.

It is to be noted that the inner edge of the platform 132 is spacedoutwardly from the operative run 106 of the conveyor a suflicientdistance to permit the conveyor flights 126 and 130 to pass withoutinterference, though the spacing will be less than the thickness of theties so that they must engage the abutment.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention it will be noted that theoverall height of the mechanism may be appreciably reduced for readypassage through tunnels and under bridges during transport. Thus theboom 46, .56 may be swung downwardly to a position substantially nohigher than the operators cab. Similarly, the comparatively high tieinfeed chute 22 is preferably formed in upper and lower sections whichare hingedly interconnected at 138 so that the upper section may beswung downwardly to a substantially horizontal position as shown inbroken lines in FIG. 1, by means such as the hydraulically actuatedpiston and cylinder unit 140 interconnected between brackets 142, 144 onthe respective sections eccentrically to the hinge pivot 138. When inits downwardly swung or collapsed condition, the upper section of thechute may rest on a support 146, aflixed to the vehicle frame.

As earlier mentioned, the ties T are fed downwardly into the comminutorC and are thereby reduced to chips, which then fall through an openingin the bottom of the comminutor casing 24 and into the conduit 34connected to the intake of the blower B. The end of the conduit 34remote from the blower casing 45 is open so as to permit the inflow ofair beneath the comminutor housing 24 whereby to entrain the wood chipsand carry them into the blower B for discharge through the preferablyswivelled discharge spout 36. Manifestly, the spout 36 may discharge thechips into the bushes alongside the roadbed or, if desired, into asuitable receptacle.

In the operation of the invention, the vehicle under the control of theoperator, will normally be self-propelled along the railroad tracksuntil brought to a position opposite a tie or ties T which have beendiscarded and placed on the shoulder of the roadbed alongside the track.The articulated boom sections 46, 56 then may be manipulated to lowerthe tie grapple G to a position for gripping engagement with a tie. Thetie grapple is actuated then to grippingly engage the tie adjacent oneend thereof, whereupon the boom 46, 56 is then actuated to raise the tieand, with the tie T in a generally vertically suspended position, tobring it opposite and into registry with the operative flight 106 of theconveyor. By actuation of the rotary hydraulic motor 86, the tie grappleG is then ro- 6 tated to position one of the flat sides of the tietoward the upper run 106 of the conveyor, following which the tie islaid on the conveyor with its lower end resting upon the tie support orplatform 132. At this time, the conveyor will be disposed in a positionof rest with the flights thereof preferably on the return run of theconveyor to avoid any possible interference with such positioning of thetie.

Thereafter the grapple jaws 60-60 are disengaged from the tie andremoved by suitable actuation of the articulated boom.

The fluid drive motor 124 of the conveyor is then suitably actuatedunder the control of the operator in conventional manner to commenceupward movement of the operative conveyor flight 106, thus causing theleading conveyor flight 126 to pass downwardly around the drive sprocketand then move upwardly into abutting engagement with the lower end ofthe tie, so that the tie is then moved upwardly on the operative run,and its upper end is thrust upwardly through the infeed opening 95 inthe lateral side of the chute 22 across the vertical feed passage 94 ofthe chute and on to the sloping chute bottom 100.

It will be apparent that during movement of the leading conveyor flight126 along the rectilinear portion of the operative run 106, it will bestrongly reinforced by the immediately trailing abutments 127 and 128against rearward angular deflection by the end of the tie, and will thusthrust the tie firmly upwardly into the chute. When the leading flight126 approaches the discharge end of the conveyor and passes around thedischarge sprocket 108, it will become disengaged from the end of thetie and normally will have only partially tilted the tie toward avertical position about the fulcrum 102 defined by the lower end of thesloping chute portion, so that the end of the tie may then thrustdownwardly into engagement with that portion of the conveyor chainbetween the flights 126 and 130 which is passing around the dischargesprocket 108. When this occurs, the trailing conveyor flight or kickerflight 130 in approaching and passing around the sprocket 108 positivelyabuts against the side wall of the tie T adjacent its end to firmly andpositively pivot the tie about the fulcrum 102 to a substantiallyvertical position in which the lower end of the tie is completely freedof the conveyor and the tie is free for movement vertically downwardlythrough the feed passage 94 of the chute to be fed by gravity into therotating comminutor head 26.

The action of the comminutor head 26, which is wellknown, is such as toreduce the tie to small chips of wood which fall through the open bottomof the comminutor casing to be entrained in the rapidly flowing currentof air within the conduit 34 and thus pneumatically conveyed to andthrough the blower B for discharge through the swivelled discharge spout36 of the blower.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. Infeed mechanism for delivering discarded railroad cross-ties into arotary comminutor having a casing formed with an upwardly directed feedopening comprising: a guide chute above said opening defining a verticalfeed passage communicating downwardly with the opening; said chute beingformed with an infeed opening through one lateral side thereof; anendless conveyor having a vertically inclined operative run movingupwardly to the level of said infeed opening and thence laterallytowards said opening; a flight on said conveyor for thrusting engagementwith the lower end of a tie carried on and in alignment with theoperative run of the conveyor whereby to project said tie into saidopening and across said vertical passage; tie supporting and guidingmeans aligned with said operative run on the remote side of saidvertical passage from the conveyor; said tie supporting and guidingmeans defining a fulcrum for the ties at one side of said verticalpassage; and tie kicker means on said conveyor operative during itsmovement with the conveyor laterally towards said opening for tiltingthe lower end of said tie about said fulcrum to a generally verticalposition in said vertical passage.

2. Infeed mechanism as defined in claim 1, in which said tie supportingand guiding means comprises a sloping bottom of said chute aligned withsaid operative run on the remote side of said vertical passage from theconveyor and intersecting said vertical passage; the lower end of saidsloping bottom at its juncture with said vertical passage defining saidfulcrum.

3. Infeed mechanism as defined in claim 1, including a stationary tiesupport at the lower end of said operative run and out of the path ofsaid conveyor flight for supporting engagement with the lower end of atie placed on said operative run of the conveyor.

4. Infeed mechanism as defined in claim 1, in which said endlessconveyor comprises a sprocket chain and relatively spaced apartsprockets supporting said chain and guiding it for movement in anendless circuit, one said sprocket being at the discharge end of saidsprocket chain and guiding the said chain in its lateral movementtowards said opening.

5. Infeed mechanism as defined in claim 1, in which said conveyor flightprojects outwardly from the surface of the conveyor by a distance lessthan the thickness of a tie and said stationary tie support is spacedoutwardly from the conveyor sufliciently to clear said flight but in aposition to engage the end of a tie on said conveyor.

6. The combination defined in claim 5, in which said conveyor flight iscarried by and projects normally outwardly from a link of said conveyorchain, and a flight support is carried by a following link for abuttingengagement with the trailing face of said conveyor flight to resistrearward deflection thereof with respect to the travel of said conveyor.

7. Infeed mechanism as defined in claim 1, in which the side of saidchute above said infeed opening is closed to confine the upper end ofthe tie against outward swinging movement.

'8. Infeed mechanism as defined in claim 1, in which said chute isprovided with an overhanging inclined guide portion above and extendingparallel to said operative run of the conveyor and cooperating with saidsloping bottom of the chute to define an inclined infeed passageintersecting said vertical feed passage and preventing downward tiltingof the upper end of the tie.

9. Infeed mechanism as defined in claim 1, including a trough having abottom along which said operative run 8 moves and relatively opposedside walls extending on opposite sides of the operative conveyor run indirections parallel thereto to retain the ties on said run.

10. Infeed mechanism for delivering discarded railroad cross-ties into arotary comminutor having a casing formed with an upwardly directed feedopening, comprising: a guide chute defining a vertical feed passagecommunicating downwardly with said feed opening and a verticallyinclined infeed passage intersecting said vertical feed passage, saidinclined feed passage extending through one side of said chute to definean infeed opening; an endless conveyor having, a vertically inclinedoperative run moving upwardly to the level of said infeed opening andthence laterally toward said opening; means at the juncture of saidvertical and vertically inclined passages defining a fulcrum for tiltingof said tie to swing it from said inclined passage into the verticalpassage; and flight means on the conveyor for urging said tie lengthwiseinto said inclined passage and for then swinging it about said fulcruminto said vertical passage.

11. Infeed mechanism as defined in claim 10, further including astationary tie support at the lower end of said operative run of theconveyor and located out of the path of said flight means for engagementwith the lower end of a tie placed on said operative run of theconveyor; said conveyor flight means being disposed for movement in apath clear of said tie support for operative engagement with the end ofthe tie.

12. Infeed mechanism as defined in claim 10, in which said conveyor isof the chain type including a rigid frame and relatively spaced apartsprockets rotatably mounted on said frame for guiding said conveyorchain through its operative circuit.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,960,836 5/1934 Yender 24llOl XR2,712,908 7/1955 Dettmering 24l245 XR 2,780,343 2/1957 Bunnell l98200 XRTH'ERON E. CO-NDON, Primary Examiner R. L. SPRUILL, Assistant ExaminerUS. Cl. X.R. 19s 50; 241-224

